The Dexter Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Chelsea Knights announce 2006 award winners
PUBLISHED: January 4, 2007
Chelsea Knights of Columbus Council No. 3092, now known as the Blessed Louis Guanella Council in honor of the Founder of the Servants of Charity, held their annual Christmas party and Awards Night on Dec. 2. Grand Knight Richard Hollo used the occasion to announce the year's significant award winners, as Immediate Past Grand Knight Gary Kistka was recognized as the 2006 Knight of the Year, and former Council Chancellor Kenneth VanGolen and his family were honored as the 2006 Family of the Year.
Advertisement
VanGolen, formerly an assistant professor of Biological Science at the University of Michigan, recently accepted a position at the University of Delaware, and is now living with his family in Landenberg, Penn. Up until the time of his departure at the start of the academic year, he and his family were involved in just about every council project. VanGolen chaired seven Lenten Fish Fries at St. Mary leading up to Easter, as well as a fundraiser for the Servants of Charity Philippine Missions on Feb. 10. A seventh Fish Fry was dedicated to a Haitian relief organization known as "Food for the Poor" and he was able to double the local contribution by finding a matching donor on the internet to make it a $10,000 fundraiser.
VanGolen's other projects included assisting with the annual Tootsie Roll Drive dedicated to St. Louis Center and Chelsea Special Ed, security at Chelsea's Summerfest, and assisting with a summer BBQ for the residents of St. Louis Center. VanGolen's wife Cindy was a member of the St. Mary Parish Council and taught Pre-School Catechism. Their four children were seen at every event, and are Katie (10), Emma (8), Juliana (5), and Theo (3).
Knight of the Year Gary Kistka is a retired command officer from the Ann Arbor Police Department, and enjoyed a two year run as Grand Knight of Council No. 3092 from 2004 to 2006. As a result of his leadership, Council No. 3092 received a Star Council Award for the 2005-06 fraternal-year, and the award was presented to Kistka by District Deputy William Schwab, of Manchester, during the awards presentations on Dec. 2.
Kistka has been an active leader in council activities, chairing and participating in many different events in 2006. He chaired the American Legion Monte Carlo night, and participated in Council Fish Fries and the fundraiser for the Philippines. He also participated in the Mackinac Island State Convention where he accepted an International Award from Supreme Council for the Council's work in assisting a family that was burned out of their home in Waterloo Township in 2005. Kistka assisted with security at the Chelsea Summerfest, chaired the annual Chicken BBQ during the Chelsea Fair Parade, and assisted in the Memorial Golf Outing fundraiser for St. Louis Center.
He is a member of the St. Mary Parish Choir. His family includes his wife Heidie, son Zachary and daughter Corinne; who are both graduates of Chelsea High School and went on to graduate from Michigan State and Michigan respectively. Zach is doing his post-graduate work at Wayne State University, while Corinne is now in post-graduate work at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.
Not all stories are guaranteed to appear
online. The Web edition contains a reasonable
sampling of the print edition stories.
For the most complete news coverage, we invite you to
subscribe
to the print edition of the paper.
Expanded
Web
Coverage
TOP JOBS
